Reaction to the nacirema

At first I wasn’t too surprised by the behavior of the Nacirema. Medicine men making potions and priests making sure water is holy are all things that I have heard about before. What really took me aback was the holy mouth man. I was shocked at the torture these people go through because of their beliefs in certain magic rituals. I’ve never had a cavity before, so just the thought of someone grinding holes in my teeth makes my mouth hurt. However, I guess if I was raised believing that these sort of mouth rituals could make help me become a better person, I would live to learn with the pain. I tried reading the rest of the paper while keeping in mind that this was their norm, and I tried not to look down on their beliefs. This helped me to understand why these people go through such awful treatments. What really bothered me though was the fact that the medicine men, and others who held that sort of power, seemed to be taking advantage of the people described. Like how they wouldn’t let anyone into their temple, the latipso, unless they could pay with some sort of gift, and then they must pay again to get let out. What takes place inside the temple sounds like a nightmare. Helpless woman are harassed by the medicine men, and patients are given painful treatments throughout the day. What amazed me the most is that the Nacirema continue to go back to the temple despite the problems there. I admire their faith in the medicine men, but I think it’s unfair that they appear to be getting scammed by them.